And Your Girl Can Sing

Chapter 48: This Is Your Tour Guide: Saturday Activities In Liverpool

The purple in my high waisted trousers certainly went well with the purple stripes in my blouse, I thought, as my walk gradually slowed to a stop in front of the storefront mirror on the main road of Liverpool. It had been a good choice. I couldn't help but admire the strange way my brown satchel and black flats pulled the look together. Cora, you did it just right, I thought, smiling at myself in the glass, subconsciously pulling at the strands of my hair. It had grown longer over the past few months, past my shoulders, dipping halfway down my chest.

"Such a vain bird," I caught a voice next to me. I didn't even have to look, because in my mind's eye I could see him clearly, hands shoved inside Uncle George's coat pockets, a leer on his face. I almost didn't remember I was annoyed with him, but then it all came tumbling back. And so I didn't look but rather turned around ninety degrees and continued on my way away from him.

"Hey—where are you going?" came a voice behind me. He was clearly not happy with being ignored.

"To see Kathkeen and Martin," I yelled into the winds in front of me.

"Don't walk away from me."

I slowly stopped walking, a frustrated sigh building inside of me as I turned around to finally face him. I had been spot on. He was exactly how I had pictured him. "Do you have something you want to say, Lennon?"

"Do I have something I want to say?" He repeated.

"Well, do you?" I said conversationally. He stepped forwards, starting, "Hey, I just wanted to talk to—"

"Cora!" Suddenly Kathleen flew into the picture somewhere from my right, or perhaps behind me; I tried to make sense of where she came from as she pulled me into a hug. "You made it! Hello, John," she casually greeted him with a bright smile, unaware she had disrupted any conversation. John barely greeted her; she released me and said to him, "We're going to the library, d'ya want to—"

"Another time," John cut in. He turned around and walked the opposite direction, his coat flapping behind him. The two of us watched him for a moment until Kathleen suddenly realized, "Oh, did I interrupt anything?"

"It's not a big deal," I said, resigned. "Come on. Martin will be waiting."

Saturday, Match 25th, 1961, with a full day free and of course we were spending it at the Library. Clarence nodded a hello to us as Kathleen and I pushed open the doors and walked inside the beautiful building. If Liverpool didn't have much it certainly had this building to brag about. "Martin is in the back room," Clarence called over a few bookshelves. "Ladies, please try and get him to come out to greet some people." I gave Kathleen a knowing smile and we made our way to the hallway which I now knew so well.

Kathleen had her head in the clouds most times. It was funny, the more I knew her, the more she revealed this side of her to me. I never would have guessed she was like this when I first met her, the time she had first called me oil the phone and said, "Hello! This is Kathleen Richards from the stationery company you applied to a couple of weeks ago. I'm pleased to say that we have an opening for you!"

Ha.

***

Martin and I embraced the same way Kathleen and I had when he opened the door. He was wearing the same shade of purple as I was with an oversized cardigan, slim brown trousers, and had his black wavy hair gelled in an Elvis quiff. We all ended up leaving the photo room and, deciding to catch a Disney film, The Absent Minded Professor, which had come out only nine days prior. I felt relaxed sitting next to two of my close friends in the theater, surrounded by curious people, excited to see a new work of art. The theater lights dimmed and the lights and sounds of the movie washed over me. I felt refined and slightly cold, until Martin passed over his sweater to me.